Tag: science

Easter Island , or Rapa Nui as the natives call themselves , belongs to the remotest places on earth. The Chilean island, famous for its carved statues, is located in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean.

For decades, scientists have been wondering how the natives got to the island before the first Europeans came in 1722. Most experts think that the first settlers came to Easter Island at around 1200 A.D. , probably on small boats crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean.

Other anthropologists have been trying to find out if the natives have any connections to early South Americans, three thousand kilometres away. Latest research now claims that the Easter Islanders were, in fact, more isolated than previously thought.

Scientists have been examining the skeletons and bones of five people that go back hundreds of years. However, they have found no evidence that suggests they have might have ancestors in South America.

The first theory of South American ancestry came up when Thor Heyerdahl saw sweet potatoes when he arrived there in the 1950s. He also found people using fishing tools that South Americans also used. Scientists at that time thought the people of the Easter Islands may have sailed to South America and back again some time before the Europeans came.

Famous statues on Easter Island – Image: Horacio_Fernandez

Words

ancestor = a member of your family who lived a long time ago

anthropologist = a person who studies people , their cultures and where they come from

carved = to cut an object with a knife

claim = to say that something is true even if you cannot prove it

Chilean = from Chile

crisscross = to travel many times back and forth without a certain pattern ; zigzag

decade = ten years

evidence = facts that clearly show that something is true or exists

examine = to look very closely at an object

however = but

isolated = here: to be alone and far away from others

located = can be found

native = a person who was born in a country or place

previously = earlier

remote = very far away from civilisation

research = the study of a subject in order to find out new facts

sail = the wind brings you somewhere on a boat

scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a lab

settler = a person who goes to live in a place where not many people have lived before

Scientists have discovered a gigantic hole that has reappeared in the Antarctic ice. It is about the size of the Netherlands and is located around the Weddell Sea.

In the 1970s climatologists found a similar hole at almost the same spot. At that time they didn’t have the observation equipment that they have now, so they couldn’t study the hole closely enough. After a few years it disappeared . Last year, the hole came up again.

Researchers cannot explain how the hole emerged. One theory is that warmer salt water from deep under the Antarctic ice sheet may have come up and mixed with cold water near the surface, thus , melting the ice sheet above. Normally a thick layer of ice covers Antarctica at the end of the southern winter. Scientists also claim that it may be connected to climate change and global warming.

Such a hole in the ice is called a polynya. Although not totally uncommon, it is strange that the hole in the Antarctic ice has appeared very far from its edge . Usually such holes are found in coastal regions.

Climatologists are not sure whether the hole will have an impact on the water temperature in the world’s oceans. If warmer water continues to surface to the top of the hole it may stay there for a longer period of time because it would then be difficult for ice layers to form.

Severe weather conditions during the Antarctic winter make it difficult to find holes in the ice . This is the second time in two years that such a hole has emerged , although last year’s was not that big.

Antarctic Ice Shelf

Words

although = while

claim = to say that something is true even if you cannot prove it

climatologist = person who studies the weather and how it changes the climate on earth

coastal = where land meets the sea

disappear = go away

discover = to find something that has not been there before

edge = the part of an object that is furthest from the centre

emerge = come out from somewhere

equipment = the tools or machines you need to do something

gigantic = huge; very big

global warming = the increase in the temperature of the atmosphere

ice sheet = area of thick ice that covers the North and South Poles

impact = influence, change

layer = material or substance between two other things

reappear = to come again, after it has gone away for some time

researcher = a person who studies a subject in order to find out more about it

The 2011 tsunami , which led to the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, has swept thousands of sea creatures across the Pacific Ocean to the US coast. In the past 6 years scientists have found mussels, starfish, crabs and other marine animals washed up on the American Pacific coast. Marine biologists expect that there are even more species to arrive in the future.

The giant waves caused by the tsunami in Japan were almost 40 metres tall and washed objects into the open sea. In 2012, scientists found debris together with living creatures on them near the Alaskan coast as well as in Hawaii. They were sea animals that have never before been seen there.

Scientists are surprised that marine species have been able to survive over such a long period in such bad conditions. However, most species travelled on plastic or glass objects, things that do not decompose and stay the same for many years. On the other hand, animals that travelled on wooden objects did not make the long journey across the Pacific, because wood lasts only for a short time.

Because the debris moved slowly across the ocean the animals had time to get used to their new surroundings as they travelled the 4,000 mile journey across the Pacific.

With so much plastic and other garbage swimming in the world’s oceans, the danger of marine animals being washed up on foreign coasts has never been greater.

Experts are not sure what effect these new species may have on the local environment. Such invasive species may change the ecosystem of the area they arrive at. They might transport new diseases or kill off existing species . In any case, it will take a decade or more to see the results.

Starfish found off the Pacific coast

Words

crab= sea animal with a hard shell , five legs on each side and two large claws

creature = animal; living thing

debris = garbage, waste

decade = ten years

decompose = to break down into many smaller parts

disease = illness

ecosystem = the animals and plants in a certain area and they way they live together

effect = result ; change caused by an event

foreign = another country

garbage = waste; things people throw away

however = but

invasive species = plant or animal that does not grow naturally in an area but has come there from somewhere else

journey = trip

local environment = the world around the place that you live in

marine species = animals and plants that live in the ocean

mussel = small sea animal with a soft body that can be eaten and a black shell that is split into two parts

Scientists have discovered that one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes , Campi Flegrei, a huge caldera near Naples may erupt soon. Geologists have found evidence that magma may be building up inside the volcano, which could blow up soon.

The supervolcano is only a few miles west of Naples, Italy’s third largest city. To the east lies Mount Vesuvius, the famous volcano that destroyedPompeii and Herculaneum in a massiveeruption in 79 A.D.

The last eruption of Campi Flegrei happened in 1538 after a series of earthquakeshit the area. A catastrophic outburst, however, occurred39,000 years ago when an eruption formed today’s caldera and sent 48 cubic miles of ash and magma into the atmosphere. Geologists fear that a similar eruption could be catastrophic for the 2 million people who live in Naples and the towns around it.

In the last few decades scientists have discovered a hotspot, a zone of magma, that lies about 4 km under the town of Pozzuoli , a few miles away from the supervolcano. They think that this zone of magma has been in motion in the past years but cannot locate in which direction. At the beginning of the 1980s, the surface of the caldera rose by 2 metres but sank again shortly afterwards. This may be a sign of building pressure inside the volcano.

While geologists cannot predict when a major eruption will take place, they are sure that there is activity going on inside Campi Flegrei.

Caldera at Campi Flegrei – Image : Donar Reiskoffer

Words

activity = here: magma that is moving

ash = soft grey powder that comes from an eruption

atmosphere = the mixture of gases that is around the Earth

caldera = a large crater at the top of a volcano; in some cases it is filled with water

cubic mile = one mile high, long and wide

decade = ten years

destroy = to damage something completely so that it no longer exists

discover = to find out something for the first time

earthquake = a sudden shaking of the Earth’s surface that often causes a lot of damage and may kill people

erupt = break out

evidence = facts that show something is true

geologist = a person who studies rocks that make up the Earth and the way they have formed

The second largest diamond ever mined has been sold to a private owner at a public auction in London. The Canadian company Lucara brought the diamond to the surface in Botswana two years ago.

The gem, called Lesedi La Rona, which means “Our Light“, is the size of a tennis ball and has a weight of 1,109 carats. The diamond was bought by a London jeweler for $53 million , the biggest diamond sale in the last one hundred years. In the next few months the new owner of the diamond wants to cut it into several smaller stones.

The only diamond larger than the Botswana diamond was the Cullinan , which was discovered in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into several smaller diamonds, which are today part of the British Crown Jewels.

Lucara tried to sell the diamond last year but did not get the price it wanted, probably because the diamond is extremely difficult to cut. The Canadian mining company is one of the largest in the world and operates diamond mines in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola and South Africa.

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The American space agency NASA is planning a mission to the sun in order to explore the outer atmosphere of our solar system’s star.

The Parker Solar Probe and will launch in the summer of 2018. It is planned to go into orbit about 4 million miles from the sun’s surface, closer than any other man-made object in history. Astronomers expect to get information on the corona, the gases and plasma of the sun’s atmosphere.

The probe will also explore solar winds, storms and magnetic fields. These phenomenacan affect communication and electric signals on Earth. In addition, scientists expect to get more data on space weather, which is important for longer future missions to Mars.

The probe, named after American solar astronomer Eugene Parker, can provide insight into the structure of our solar system and give us more information on how stars, like our sun, work.

The Parker Solar Probe must cope with extreme heat and radiation. The specially designed heat shield is over 10 cm thick and can withstand temperatures of 1,300 degrees Celsius.

The 7-year mission will be made up of 24 orbits around the sun. The probe will pass by Venus 7 times and use the planet’s gravity to position itself inside the sun’s outer atmosphere.

Up to now, the closest a spacecraft ever got to the sun was Helios 2 , which passed the star at a distance of 27 million miles in 1976.

The Parker Solar Probe – artist’s drawing

Words

affect = influence

astronomer = scientist who studies the stars and planets

atmosphere = the gases around a planet or the sun

cope = deal with a problem

data = information

explore = to find out more about something

gravity = the power or force that causes an object to be pulled towards a planet

heat shield = piece of metal that protects you from fire or extreme heat

in addition = also

insight = being able to understand something

magnetic field = the area around an object that has magnetic power

mission = longer trip to an unknown place

orbit = to move around an object in circles

phenomena = something that happens or exists in nature and is studied because it is difficult to understand

Researchers have found out that the size of an animal is important when it comes to extinction. Scientists have determined that the biggest and the smallest animals are more at risk of dying out than medium-sized animals.

Heavy animals are mostly endangered by hunting and poaching while the smallest creatures may die out because their living area is being polluted. Among the most endangered animals are elephants, lions and rhinos. Public awareness is large and campaigns to save such animals have been around for a long time. It is the smallest species that get the leastattention. Especially fish and frogs are in danger of dying out.

The species that are most at risk have a weight of over 1 kilogram. They are in danger of being killed because we need food, skin and other items.

According to the study, animals that are becoming extinct affect large ecosystems, like forests, deserts and oceans.

The common frog – an endangered species – Image by Richard Bartz

Words

according to = as said by …

affect = to change a situation or a place

attention = to listen, look at or think carefully about something

campaign = actions that lead to solving a special problem

determine = to find out the facts about something

ecosystem =all the animals and plants that live in a certain area and how they live together

extinction = when a plant or animal stops existing

least = less than anything else

poaching = to catch or shoot wild animals illegally

pollute = to make something dirty and unusable

public awareness = most people know that a problem exists

researcher = person who studies a subject in order to find out something new about it.

scientist = a person who is trained in science

skin = the outer part of a person or an animal’s body

size = how big something is

species = group of animals that are similar and can have babies with each other

After 20 years in space NASA’s Cassini mission is coming to an end in April. The spacecraft , which was launched in 1997 to explore Saturn and its moons, is running out of fuel and will crash on Saturn’s surface .

Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, after a 7-year long journey. It carried the Huygens probe, which landed on Saturn’s moon Titan in 2005. In the last decade Cassini has been exploring the planet and its moons. Recently , the spacecraft has revealed that there are giant oceans under the frozen surfaces of some of Saturn’s moons. It also discovered the existence of hydrogen , one of the building blocks of life.

In its last task before hitting Saturn’s surface , Cassini will pass through the space between the planet’s surface and its rings. It will travel closer to Saturn than ever before. NASA scientists expect Cassini to find out even more about the Saturn’s mysterious rings than we already know.

NASA’s Cassini probe in orbit around Saturn

Words

arrive = here: to get to a planet

building block = an element that is needed to produce something else

decade = ten years

discover = to find something for the first time

explore = to find out more about something that has just been discovered